Only A Crack
by musepro
Summary: A new player enters the courts! That's how it's supposed to be, right? But Alexi Romanov, the Russian Pro who took the world by storm, is stuck in Japan... And not for the reasons you might think. After his collapse at a press conference in Tokyo, his condition leaves him stuck in the hospital before he's transferred to Kanai General where he meets a certain blue haired captain.
1. Truly

"Acute Myeloid Leukemia," The physician's face was grim. He knew the implications of the words he'd just uttered to the bedridden boy in front of him. He also knew that it could have been something much worse, but with how late in the progression of the disease, the prognosis was as grim as his shadowed face.

The boy before him, clad in white silk pajamas, simply closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He let out the breath slowly and looked up at the older man, limp, dark auburn hair hanging over despondent blue eyes. "Prognosis?" The boy asked as if he had read the doctor's thoughts.

The doctor gulped slightly, he had not anticipated the teenager to be so professional. "We're not completely certain, but so far it's not looking good…"

Nodding in confirmation, the boy turned his dead looking eyes to the open window across the hospital room. "I appreciate your honesty, Oishi-sensei. I wish all doctors were as forthcoming as you with their thoughts."

Oishi started. He had not known the boy had had previous experiences with doctors such as himself. It shouldn't have surprised him though; even when in a healthy state, the boy had been bordering on unhealthily thin and pale. Oishi remembered seeing the boy on the cover of some of the many tennis and sporting magazines his nephew brought with him when he visited. It pained him to see such a successful young athlete reduced to the potentially terminally ill patient in front of him. He wasn't looking forward to telling Shūichirō that one of his idols might never play tennis again.

"Think nothing of it, Romanov-kun. I would not be worthy of being called a doctor if I didn't tell my patients what was wrong with them."

The boy gave a half-hearted chuckle, a fit of coughing almost immediately after. A mirthless smile adorned his lips as he straightened his back and observed the hand he'd pulled away from his mouth. Both his hand and lips were stained with blood. "You can call me Alexi, sensei. We're familiar enough, don't you think?" Oishi-sensei's eyes bulged and he quickly pressed the call button for a nurse before rushing to check on the boy. Alexi simply raised a placating hand and murmured in his native Russian, "_Nu chto zh_, I guess today's my last day in this hospital, _ya prav_?"

Oishi Akitaka sighed heavily and nodded. "You'll be transferring to Kanai General tomorrow. We hope that they are better equipped to deal with your illness."

Alexi let his head flop back to the well stuffed pillows and looked up. Reaching his right arm toward the ceiling, he turned his head to the physician and, with tired eyes, smiled gratefully. "I am truly grateful to you, Oishi-sensei. Never forget that."

His eyes drifted shut as if he were going to sleep. The doctor turned to leave but halted when he heard Alexi utter that same phrase in Russian, "_Nu chto zh_…." Oishi turned back to the boy who now had his arm draped over his eyes. "Oishi-sensei, your nephew plays tennis, right? I would like to think he's heard of me, but I don't want the reason for him to remember me being the story on all the gossip rags… I would like to have at least a few people spare me their pity… Do you think your nephew- Shūichirō, was it? – would mind meeting me?"

"With your condition, Romanov-kun—"

"_Pozhaluysta._" Alexi almost pleaded. "Please, Oishi-sensei, let me be remembered for me, not for whatever those magazines decide to print about me." He smiled wryly, though the humor never truly reached his eyes. "And I told you to call me Alexi, _ne tak li_?"

Oishi Akitaka gave a kind smile and nodded. "I'll see what I can do. I'm sure Shūichirō would be pleased to meet you… Though I hope you don't mind if he brings along a few friends? His tennis team would probably follow him even if he didn't invite them…"

"_Ne bespokoytes', ne bespokoytes'! _ The more the better."

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><p>After leaving the frail looking boy to sleep, Oishi-sensei strode to his office and picked up the phone. He dialed his nephew and silently hoped that his young relative would say yes. The look on Alexi's face when he'd asked the favor of him looked, not like a teenager asking to meet with potential friends, but like a man planning his funeral.<p>

When the dial tone ended with a click and his nephew answered, "_Moshi moshi_, Akitaka-jii-sama?"

He took a deep breath and spoke, "Ne, Shūichirō-kun, do you remember that Russian tennis player you were telling me about last time, Romanov Alexi? What would you say if I told you I could set it up for you and your team to meet him?"

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><p>AN

Yay! I finally wrote this... The idea's been floating around my head for a while, but I didn't trust myself to write it with my old writing style. But here I am, renewed!

Hope you guys liked it,

Please Read and REVIEW!


	2. CH1 REWRITE

**A/N**

**Okay, so I know I just posted this story a few days ago, but it's been bugging me ever since I actually posted it. I want to ask you guy which first chapter you all like better, this one or the first one? Please review with your thoughts and based off that, we'll see which route I take. **

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><p><strong>DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything mentioned in this chapter, just a couple OC's and a plot. <strong>

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><p>Take me down to the river bend<p>

Take me down to the fighting end

Wash the poison from off my skin

Show me how to be whole again

Fly me up on a silver wing

Past the black where the sirens sing

Warm me up in a nova's glow

And drop me down to the dream below

'Cause I'm only a crack in this castle of glass

Hardly anything there for you to see

For you to see

Bring me home in a blinding dream,

Through the secrets that I have seen

Wash the sorrow from off my skin

And show me how to be whole again

'Cause I'm only a crack in this castle of glass

Hardly anything there for you to see

For you to see

'Cause I'm only a crack in this castle of glass

Hardly anything else I need to be

'Cause I'm only a crack in this castle of glass

Hardly anything there for you to see

For you to see

For you to see

-Linkin Park "Castle Of Glass"

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><p><strong>"Only A Crack"<strong>

A few years ago I would never have sat back and contemplated this, but after all I've been through since that fateful day in October, understandably, things have changed. Now, I'm not sure – and I doubt I'll ever be sure – whether those changes were for better or worse, but – I've barely started and there's already a lot of buts, huh? – My life back then was sure as hell different than it is now.

In two years I've faced more than any person rightfully should in their _entire lives_.

It began when I was fourteen.

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><p><strong>Setting: Tokyo Big Sight (aka Japan International Exhibition Hall)<strong>

**Date: October 29, 2007**

**Time: 14:31**

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><p>"And now, please welcome our champion, Romanov Alexi!" I stood from the cheap plastic chair and made my way over to the announcer. I could feel the stares of the reporters in the crowd and the flashes from their cameras burned my eyes. It was a small consolation, though, that they didn't hurt worse as I had decided to forego my contacts for a pair of thin rimmed, black Ray Ban's.<p>

I stopped near the front of the large stage and gave what I hoped was a charming smile instead of the grimace I felt like giving. My head was killing me as I gave a – hopefully – graceful wave to the crowd. A flurry of camera flashes followed and I simply turned my attention to the announcer. "This amazing fourteen year old has accomplished what many thought impossible: winning three of the Grand Slam tournaments consecutively, Wimbledon and the US Open in 2006, and the Australian Open in 2007. He made it to the finals in the Roland Garros both years and has continuously impressed us by holding his spot at #3 in the ATP rankings, just under Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

"Besides his expert manipulation of the solo tournaments, Team Russia has been dominating the team tournaments with Alexi at their point in the Singles 1 position. Taking the Hopman Cup in January and, at the moment, they are neck and neck with the United States in the Davis Cup Semi-Finals, both teams vying for the top spot. At this point all we can say about that tournament is that it will likely be a fierce battle between this young man here and the US's own Andy Roddick!" As the announcer finished his monologue about me, I relaxed a bit. That speech was overkill in my mind.

But then again, my mind wasn't really functioning properly at the moment.

It suddenly felt sweltering hot, almost like those saunas my father loved so much. I could feel the individual drops of sweat roll down my paling face.

"So, Mr. Romanov, what's it like being the world's youngest professional player battling for a golden slam? We've received promising intel that you're planning on participating in the 2008 Olympics, is that true?"

I tried to give a cordial smile. "Yes, I've been hoping to play in next year's games since I started playing the professional circuit. I haven't been to Beijing for a while, so who knows, if I don't make the cut, I might end up going just to watch," The world was going dark. _I'm so sleepy…_ "And I'm grateful that you've all acknowledged me to that extent… truly… grateful…"

I felt a cool breeze and heard the gasps of everyone in the audience. _Oh, the world's sideways… That's not good…_

My head clunked against the stage and there was silence.

The next morning, my unconscious face would be on the cover of tennis magazines worldwide, raven hair strewn about a pale, grey hued face, stark even against the white marble of the floor. Blue eyes closed and dead to the world.

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><p><strong>MAN DOWN AT THE TOKYO BIG SIGHT!<strong>


End file.
